A teenage boy who stabbed 12-year-old Leo Ross to death in a Birmingham park pretended to be an innocent bystander and spoke to police at the scene, it has emerged following his guilty plea.
The attacker, who was 14 at the time and cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted murdering Leo during a hearing at Birmingham Crown Court. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and possession of a bladed article. He is due to be sentenced on 10 February.
Leo was walking home alone from Christ Church of England Secondary Academy on 21 January when he cut through Trittiford Mill Park in the Hall Green area of the city. Police said he did not know his attacker and was targeted because he was physically smaller and alone.
Investigators believe the teenager, dressed in black with his hood up, approached Leo and stabbed him once in the stomach with a kitchen knife. There was no evidence of a struggle or robbery, and nothing was taken from the victim.
After the attack, the teenager raised the alarm and fabricated an account of how he had discovered Leo injured in the park. Body-worn camera footage shows him calmly speaking to officers while paramedics attempted to save Leo’s life nearby. He later claimed he had avoided touching the boy to avoid “being put in the case”.
Leo died from his injuries despite emergency treatment.
Detective Inspector Joe Davenport said the evidence suggested the stabbing was unprovoked and carried out without confrontation. He described the attacker’s conduct at the scene as “sinister”.
The murder followed a series of violent attacks carried out by the teenager over three days in the same park. Police said he had assaulted several lone women at random, including an elderly woman whom he struck with her own walking stick before pushing her into the River Cole, causing serious injuries. In at least one previous incident, he again posed as a witness and helped raise the alarm.
On the day Leo was killed, the teenager had earlier attempted to attack another woman in the park but fled after being interrupted. He then remained in the area on his bicycle, circling the park before encountering Leo.
Officers from West Midlands Police arrested the teenager within three hours of the fatal stabbing. Police later recovered the murder weapon from a river, with forensic tests confirming the presence of both the attacker’s DNA and Leo’s DNA.
Leo was described by his family as a kind and gentle child with no history of behavioural problems. His birth mother said her son’s life had been taken “for no reason”, while his foster family said his death had left a lasting impact on their lives.
The court heard that the teenager had shown no remorse following his arrest. Sentencing will take place next month.